Uconn

Lewis: Daniels could make things interesting for UConn By Lee Lewis Republican-American

Connecticut's DeAndre Daniels exults during the second half in a regional semifinal of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Friday, March 28, 2014 in New York. Iowa State's DeAndre Kane is at right. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

There are two big sporting events this weekend (three if you count the inevitable march of the UConn women to the championship game), one of which was planned and one of which is unexpected.

The former is the start of the long and often tedious baseball season, heralded mainly because it means that better weather is near.

The latter is the appearance of the UConn men in the NCAA Tournament East Regional final today in New York City, where they will face powerful Michigan State.

We will get to the baseball in a bit, but let's start with the Huskies.

It's been obvious all season that UConn has the backcourt to challenge anyone, but the problem has been the lack of any discernible frontcourt presence. When teams have been able to restrict Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright (like Louisville did three times), the Huskies have had to turn elsewhere for reliable production.

That certainly changed Friday night against a depleted Iowa State squad. DeAndre Daniels looked every bit like a man who will be playing many more games at Madison Square Garden (and getting paid well for it) in the years to come.

What has been frustrating about Daniels this season has been has his utter lack of consistency.

For example: 23 points and 11 rebounds against Memphis, followed by three and four against Louisville; 31 and 12 against Temple backed up by seven and five against Rutgers.

When he is an aggressive threat and taking the ball to the basket, which obviously opens up the perimeter for Napier and Boatright, the Huskies become an extremely dangerous team. If Daniels can play like he did Friday night today against the more talented and fully healthy Spartans, UConn has a nice chance to pull the upset. (Vegas has MSU as about a 6-point favorite.)

A final thought on today's game: This is probably the toughest Elite 8 opponent UConn has played since Maryland (eventual national champion) in 2002. The Huskies have reached this stage three times since then and faced Alabama, George Mason and Missouri, none of whom were as skilled as today's opponent.

The pick: Michigan State in a tight one.

As for baseball, the biggest story during the past week was the contract the Tigers gave to Miguel Cabrera.

When you start handing out 10-year guaranteed deals worth nearly $300 million, it gets people's attention. (LeBron James said he was "jealous.") But Cabrera is the best player in the sport right now, and as I always say, it's not my money.

Side note: In fact, it is the money of Michael Ilitch, who according to Forbes is worth $3.6 billion. The best part of his entry on the Forbes list of richest people (he's 443rd) is his source of wealth: pizza. You can look it up.

Enough about Cabrera, on to the area teams.

Here's a quickie view:

1. The Mets will again struggle, but at least have some good young pitchers in the mix.

2. The Red Sox resisted big acquisitions and could be in for a down year, but they have won three World Series since 2004 so they get a pass.

3. The Yankees spent a boatload, remain old with holes, but seem ready to get back into the postseason mix.

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